In India with Sister Prema. In the Rainbow Home with LGBT+ people kicked out of their families

«On a particularly painful day, in Guwahati, i witnessed the discrimination and social ostracism suffered by a hijra person (transgender) on a public bus. This experience shook me profoundly."

Thus begins the story of sister Prema Chowallur*. Not with a theory, not with a program, but with an everyday scene. One of those that could happen anywhere, even here. A gesture of exclusion seen in public, in front of everyone, and for this reason often ignored. And instead, in that case, something stopped. Something asked to be taken seriously. From there Rainbow Home was born.

“It was a strong reminder of my choice of religious life,” writes Sister Prema, “and it sparked sleepless nights of reflection on the vital importance of this new ministry that I was about to begin.”

Rainbow Home of Seven Sisters is located in Guwahati, North East India. A distant world, but the questions that live there are the same that live in our communities: who is left out when we talk about hospitality? Who doesn't find a home, not even symbolically, in our churches, in our families, in our conversations?

Prema describes Rainbow Home as a “gender-neutral” Home. a definition that Does not arise from a theoretical debate, but from the concrete life of the people who arrive there. “Many parents reject their children's gender identity and sexual orientation,” she writes. “They Are ostracized by their families and society.”

The result is often the same, even if the stories are different. “They are harassed in workplaces, schools, hospitals and almost all public spaces.” Little by little, he adds, "stigma, discrimination and rejection make them homeless, without refuge".

Here Rainbow Home becomes something very concrete. Not a symbol, but a real place. “This house is open to all gender and sexual minorities,” writes Prema. «They are the ones who need our care, our attention, hospitality and space.»

For those reading from Italy, perhaps the most striking word is "space". Space to stop. Space to not have to continually explain yourself. Space to not be reduced to a problem to be solved. It is a simple but decisive word. Because it says that hospitality is not just an internal attitude, but a choice that takes shape in places, times, presences.

Rainbow Home «It offers psychological support», says Prema. «A full-time psychologist accompanies people from the community and adult women rescued from trafficking, helping them deal with trauma, depression and dysphoria.» There are medical treatments, educational paths, patient attempts to rebuild bonds, when possible.

There is also a space calledRainbow Care. “A place to stop in silence and share what is in your heart,” he writes. A group that chooses to stand alongside vulnerability, without shame and without stigma. Not a minor detail, but a precise posture.

At a certain point, almost without underlining it, Prema adds a fact that says a lot: around 60% of the staff belong to the same community that the house welcomes. Not a service "for", but a journey "with". A house built from the inside.

At the end of his text, Prema does not talk about results or numbers. He speaks of a responsibility that is both simple and demanding: «The sacred mandate of this house is to listen, embrace, love, especially on the most difficult days.» Telling those who are alone, depressed, rejected: we are here.

For those who walk with La Tenda di Gionata, the story of Rainbow Home is like looking in a mirror. He asks us what it means today to translate words like hospitality, compassion, care into real spaces. And if we too are willing to be struck by a scene of discrimination that happens in front of us and let it change our pace.

* In India sisterPress Chowallur, religious ofSisters of the Cross,She is the founder ofRainbow Home of Seven Sisters (RHoSS), a place that has been supporting the Hijra/Kinnar (transgender people) community and their children in Northeast India since 2021. Prema has been participating in the work of the for yearsTalitha Kum India NetworkA network of "nuns from all over India who share information on the activities carried out in the field of the fight against human trafficking and on the welcome of LGBT+ people". Read more click here.